Saint Beast

Summary:
The seal which was imprisoning the fallen angels, Kirin no Yuda and Houou no Ruka, is broken and the two decide to get revenge on the God who had cast them to Hell by getting rid of the Heavens that had once been their home. Soon the guardian angels on Earth begin disappearing, and no one in Heaven can explain the happenings. But there is a sense of a vengeful animal spirit at work, and so the four Saint Beasts are called upon to investigate.

The 4 Gods of Beasts attempt to rescue the guardian angels, as well as to find out what this evil animal spirit is... 

 

Itazura na Kiss

 

Synopsis

Ever since she entered high school, Kotoko Aihara wanted to be in the same class as Naoki Irie. The only problem is that Irie is the smartest student in school contrast to Kotoko being one of the dumbest. Now in her 3rd year of high school, she still isn't there. However, one day her home gets destroyed and the only place left to go to was Irie's home. Now that she lives close to him, will their relationship be the same, or will it become greater than it is?

 

 

How Ice Skating Made Fifth Avenue a Fashionable Destination

[The Empire City Skating Rink. Major & Knapp Engraving, Manufacturing & Lithographic Co. (New York, NY). / Museum of the City of New York.]
When Central Park opened, upper Fifth Avenue was rural and remote. Ponds and streams dotted the area around 59th Street. Unpaved roads were lined with cattle yards and stables. Saks was far in the future. Yet fashionable New Yorkers still trekked north from Washington Square—to go ice skating.
In the 1860s, when the neighborhood tipped from sylvan to stylish, private skating ponds led the charge. They lured the elite with costume balls, fireworks, music, spacious restaurants, and selective membership. Two ponds were located across the street from one another at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, where the Plaza Hotel and Apple Store now stand, and another at 46th and Fifth, now a Guess store. Skating there was the highlight of the winter social season.
Central Park spurred this transition, drawing the masses to the city's outskirts. It was a hike for most residents, who lived below Madison Square, but was reachable by carriage or by the horse railway cars on Third or Eighth avenues. One of the first parts of the park to open to the public was the skating pond, now called the lake, in the winter of 1858-1859. The pond kicked off a skating mania. New Yorkers had practically forgotten the sport, since the downtown ponds that had once been used for skating, like the Collect Pond, had long been built over. Central Park, as intended, reintroduced residents to such fresh-air pursuits. Within a few years, three more park ponds were opened for skating.
Park commissioners waited to open the ponds to skating until there were four or five inches of ice, which held thousands of skaters at a time. Once it was deemed safe, they raised a red ball by the bell tower just south of the reservoir. "The ball is up" became the universal code for a skating day and the words created a frenzy. "The city railroad cars would have deceived any stranger to the city," the Herald reported about a freezing cold day in 1860, "and made him believe the Japanese had returned to New York, for at the end of each vehicle was a flag, with a flaming red ball on a white ground." Some cars were even said to fly this flag falsely in order to attract customers.
The skating pond was surrounded by buildings for renting skates or warming up by a fire. The "rude but comfortable" Casino, on the southern shore, served beer, cream soda, and hot chocolate. For 25 cents or less, hungry skaters could order fried oysters, pickled tongue, chowder, sandwiches, or cakes. The Casino and the saloon at the lower lake were run by Charles A. Stetson, owner of the Astor House, a luxury hotel. Yet unlike that exclusive downtown spot, the park restaurants catered to a wide range of New Yorkers. Visitors to the skating pond were of "all ages, sexes and conditions of life, from the ragged urchin with one broken skate, to the millionaire in his richly-robed carriage," said the Times. Scots held curling matches on the lower pond. Workers from Ireland and Germany thronged the ice on Sundays.
[Skating in Central Park in 1894. Byron Company (New York, NY). / Museum of the City of New York.]
Ladies were the main attraction of the skating ponds. At first, they had their own enclosure in Central Park, but it didn't last long. For many women, the whole point was to show off to the men and skate together. Ice skating was one of the only activities that single men and women could do together unchaperoned. At the park, wrote the Times, "it was a common sight to see a gentleman with two pairs of skates on one arm and a bundle of crinoline on the other." Skating also conveniently drew couples close together on moonlit nights. "The habit of depending upon gentlemen for support is a most pernicious one," a contemporary observed, but it was hard for learners to avoid. Men were often treated to the flash of an ankle or even—oh sweet lord—the chance to tie a woman's skates and get "the faintest peep of the hem of a Balmoral," an undergarment. Fit and attractive, the women made prime wife material. "Many a young fellow has lost his heart, and skated himself into matrimony, on the Central Park pond," said an 1866 guidebook.
Reporters panted over the sight of "pretty girls, prettier legs, the prettiest feet" on the ponds. But women were more than just eye candy. They were talented skaters who thrilled in the sport. It was a liberating escape from the stultifying ballroom, the cold be damned. Contemporary observers welcomed it as an invigorating new amusement that gave women strength and energy (plus a healthful glow in the cheeks).
Women made ice skating fashionable. But Central Park was too crowded for patrician sensibilities and soon enough the upper class got its own private pond. In 1862, Major Oscar Oatman—who ran Park Slope's high-end Washington Skating Club—opened the Fifth Avenue Pond, the first private pond in Manhattan. It was, the Herald said, "the resort of the higher classes, who desire to be select in their skating as in everything else."
[The New York Skating Club. Photo via New York Public Library.]
The Fifth Avenue Pond was naturally formed, one of several in the vicinity, and fed by a spring. For years boys had skated on these ponds, especially those on the Beekman estate around 61st Street between Fourth (now Park) and Fifth avenues. Like Beekman's, the Fifth Avenue Pond was located in a hollow that sheltered it from the wind. Covering an area of 11 acres, it sat between 59th and 57th streets and Fourth and Fifth avenues. Madison Avenue originally ended at 42nd Street and apparently didn't cut through the pond for a few years; the first mention of it affecting the pond was in the Tribune in 1865. The article said that its dimensions had been curtailed that summer, as "the inexorable hand of improvement…[pushed] a raised thoroughfare almost through its center." But the shrunken pond stayed open until at least 1868.
Oatman fenced the area and erected buildings for a cloakroom and a saloon with warming stoves. He was a constant, genial presence at the pond, attending to every detail. The ice was kept "clean as a parlor," with workers quickly sweeping up snow and cigar stumps. Women and children could take lessons, while those unable to skate could be pushed in chairs with gliders. At night, calcium lights (also called limelights) and large reflectors illuminated the pond. Every afternoon, a brass band played "a variety of national and operatic selections." This could be a challenge in the cold. Even when the city experienced record, below-zero temperatures in January 1866, the musicians blew on through chattering teeth.
Most importantly, Oatman only admitted members of "character and respectability," who could produce quality references and pay $10 for a season pass, more than most New Yorkers made in a week. The pond opened as early as 7 a.m., since "fashionables are in the habit of skating before breakfast," and shut at midnight. It was closed on Sundays, which was then considered in good taste. It also happened to be the only day most people had off.
The patrons at the Fifth Avenue Pond looked sharp on the ice. They wore beribboned caps, Highland plaids, fur muffs, and custom skates costing up to $50 (some $700 today). Bright colors prevailed, with dark hues deemed too gloomy for the merry scene. Dresses were "short," just above the ankle. Men wore chinchilla pea coats and Scottish wool trousers. Each season, Harper's Bazaar made detailed recommendations for fashionable skating dress: fur-trimmed Russian suits, plumed seal-skin toquet hats, jaunty short jackets, or calf-skin skates with chamois lining. It advised against white undergarments while skating, preferring blue merino stockings. As for a lady's hair, "elaborate coiffures are in bad taste in the half undress of the skating costume," it said in 1869. Better: "A braided chignon with a crimped tress is not too dressy."
[The carnival of the Washington Skating Club in Brooklyn, 1862. G.E. Jones (New York, NY). / Museum of the City of New York.]
The highlights of the season were the skating carnivals, or costume balls on the ice, a spectacle "rarely if ever before seen out of Russia." The events drew carriage after carriage of patrons and featured costumed skaters, ice-dancing, and fireworks. At one ball in January 1865, the Tribune reported, some skaters wore grotesque masks or dressed as Seneca Indians. Others came as Zouave officers, a brightly-attired regiment in the Civil War, which was still being fought a world away from Fifth Avenue. People gathered outside the pond to look down at the spectacle: "There you beheld a beautiful girl, with a jockey hat and rooster feather, executing, in wonderful style, a charming pas de deux with a fur-clad gentleman…Now half a dozen young men come flying along with Roman candles in their hands…some have lanterns on their ankles, and glide by like fireflies in the summer night."
Oatman also hosted ladies' skating matches, cannily capitalizing on his pond's primary draw. The "novel contest" drew crowds to the surrounding banks to watch women compete for a solid gold medal. At a match in February 1868, the Evening Post reported, spectators comprised "ladies and gentlemen belonging to the highest circles of society in this city." After announcing a winner, "Major Oatman, with his usual liberality, gave notice that each of her competitors would also receive a gold medal," handed out like Little League trophies.
The judges of the contests were members of the New York Stating Club. Founded in 1863, the club was headquartered at the Fifth Avenue Pond from 1865 until 1868. These so-called "fancy skaters" had their own clubhouse on the property and put on a constant show at the pond. "Many of the members," the Herald said, "are perfect masters of the art of skating, and their graceful motions on the ice never fail to excite the admiration of all visitors to this uptown resort." These included E.B. Cook, the club meteorologist and expert in the form, and Alexander McMillan, a champion skater who also manufactured ice skates. McMillan even designed a "New York Club Skate," a pricey model made of solid steel and iron.
The club moved across Fifth Avenue in 1868, probably due to the closure of Oatman's pond. That year, Mary Mason Jones began building a chateau-style marble mansion (right, via MCNY) on Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets. An old-money matriarch and aunt of Edith Wharton, Jones also erected matching houses on the block, known collectively as "marble row." Its construction signaled the end of bucolic midtown and likely squeezed out the Fifth Avenue Pond. The other ponds soon followed.
In a thinly-veiled portrait of Jones in The Age of Innocence, Wharton describes her aunt's "geographic isolation." The character Manson Mingott would "sit in a window of her sitting-room on the ground floor, as if watching calmly for life and fashion to flow northward to her solitary doors." In reality, the area was not quite so dull. St. Patrick's Cathedral slowly rose on 50th Street and a few other pioneers built homes nearby. Jones would have spied activity kitty-corner to her property, at Mitchell's Pond, which next hosted the New York Stating Club. Located at the current site of the Plaza Hotel, it had similar amenities to Oatman's, with skating contests, live music, and polka-dancing on ice.
After Mitchell's closed, the club briefly moved to McMillan's Pond at 46th Street and Fifth Avenue, run by one of its own members. Surrounded by elegant mansions, it replaced the Fifth Avenue Pond as a gathering spot for the elite. On a Christmastime visit in 1870, a sports magazine observed that "so many people representing many of the leading families in the city were never seen on a skating pond before. This cozy little pond—the ice of which is in excellent skating order—is peculiarly adapted to the convenience of the ostentatious specimens of humanity in which New York abounds." Perhaps even Mary Mason Jones deigned to visit.
[The Fifth Avenue Pond or the Beekman's Ponds, c. 1863. / Museum of the City of New York.]
This party too was short-lived, as development plowed northward. Soon artificial rinks replaced natural ponds. New Yorkers could now skate protected from the elements at the likes of the Empire City Skating Rink at 63rd Street and Third Avenue, which opened in 1868. The size of a football field, it had a 70-foot-high arched ceiling, hundreds of gas lights, and commodious refreshment rooms—modernity incarnate. Thirty years later, when John D. Rockefeller wanted a private pond for skating, he simply made one, pouring water onto a shallow slab of concrete. Built on his 54th Street property, it was, according to the Times, "probably the costliest ice in the world."
McMillan's Pond was paved over in 1871 to build the Windsor Hotel. Grand Central Depot had just opened on 42nd Street and travelers needed a place to stay nearby. The lavish seven-story hotel had cutting-edge amenities like elevators and a stunning 139 bathrooms. It marked an encroachment on "the privacy and exclusiveness of Fifth Avenue," the Times said in 1873, catering instead to a transient public. Eventually hotels occupied the land that had been Mitchell's and the Fifth Avenue Pond's, too, their spirit echoing only in the fur hats and exclusive air.
But the new Fifth Avenue hasn't entirely neglected its winter legacy. Rockefeller Center's rink is just a few blocks away from the old McMillan's Pond. The newer one could be described as the older one was, as a place where "the passers-by on three different sides can stand and look down upon the moving human figures." Gawking and exhibitionism remain central to the sport's urban allure. Only today, skaters come to upper Fifth Avenue not to escape the city, but to be in the thick of it.

Freestyle Skiing World Cup - Ski Cross

12 January 2015 13:44

 After placing 9th at the 2009 World Championships, Sanna Luedi will miss her 2nd World Championships start -

Yesterday's MRI has unfortunately realised Sanna Luedi's fears of a serious injury making the two-time Olympian this season's loss #3 for the Swiss Ski Cross Team after Katrin and Jorinde Mueller's season got cut short last week and prior to the season, respectively.
28-year-old racer Luedi had blown her left knee (Meniscus, ACL) when it took a hit at the finish jump during the semi finals of Saturday's Ski Cross World Cup race in Val Thorens, France.
As a result, the season of Sanna Luedi has come to an early end before the FIS Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships at Kreischberg, Austria kicked off.
The Swiss team confirmed that its medal hope will undergo surgery as soon as possible.

Skydiving

skydiving, also called parachuting,  use of a parachute—for either recreational or competitive purposes—to slow a diver’s descent to the ground after jumping from an airplane or other high place. The sport traces its beginnings to the descents made from a hot-air balloon by the French aeronaut André-Jacques Garnerin in 1797, but modern skydiving is usually performed from a propeller-driven airplane. At events such as the annual World Free Fall Convention in Quincy, Illinois, however, parachutists are afforded the opportunity to jump from such diverse craft as hot-air balloons, helicopters, and a Boeing 727.

Skydiving aerodynamics

Typical jump altitudes in modern times for experienced skydivers range from 7,500 to 15,000 feet (2,300 to 4,600 metres) above ground level, yielding a freefall time of between 40 and 85 seconds. The length of the freefall (the time between exiting the aircraft and deploying the parachute) is dependent upon such factors as exit altitude, opening altitude, and fall rate. The fall rate is determined by the jumpsuit the skydiver wears and the way in which the suit conforms to the body during the freefall (a looser suit offers more resistance to the air and slows the fall) and by the diver’s body configuration relative to the ground. Freefall speeds for skydivers falling “belly to earth” (the standard arched position) range from 110 to 130 miles per hour (180 to 210 km per hour). Descent speeds in excess of 330 mph have been recoded for those skydivers in speed skydiving competitions (in which the diver falls headfirst with the body in a streamlined position), and those as slow as 40 mph have been noted for skydivers using extended-wing “birdman” suits. The altitude at which a parachutist opens the canopy varies, but 2,500 feet is usual. With most parachutes, the skydiver initiates deployment by throwing a pilot chute into the airstream (other parachutes have pilot chutes that are automatically released by pulling an attached cord). The pilot chute is a small chute opened by air resistance that acts to pull the main parachute out from the bag in which the parachutes are encased. The main parachute increases the skydiver’s air resistance and slows the diver’s fall to the ground to a speed of about 10 mph. Modern ram-air parachutes are made of seven to nine nylon cells that inflate and act as a wing, or glider; these canopies allow the parachutist to steer and sail gently to the ground.
To maximize safety, sport skydivers wear two parachutes, one main and one reserve. This is prescribed by law in the U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations and in the aviation regulations of many other countries as well. Additionally, skydivers use a variety of altitude-sensing devices in order to know when to deploy their parachutes.

Competitive skydiving

The first world parachuting championships were held in Yugoslavia in 1951, and later world championships followed under the auspices of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Since that time, the sport has grown worldwide, and competitive skydiving events now include: classical style, in which the diver completes a series of timed acrobatic maneuvers; accuracy trials, in which the diver has to land on (or as close as possible to) a 5-cm (1.97-inch) target for a number of jumps; relative work in freefall, wherein a number of divers build a prescribed series of formations (see photograph); canopy relative work, in which divers build formations after their chutes have opened; and freestyle, which involves a mixture of free-form acrobatic and gymnastic maneuvers by the diver combined with relative work involving a videographer (another skydiver who jumps with a video camera to document the activity). Recently, competitive events such as skysurfing (the use of a small snowboardlike device to act as a maneuvering platform for freestyle acrobatics during freefall) and blade running (maneuvering a high-performance parachute through a pyloned course of wind flags—known as airblades—mounted about 15 feet above the ground on thin poles) have been added.

Learning to skydive

There are several training programs in skydiving. In the original military training, known as a static-line program, a skydiver exits the aircraft and wears a chute that is deployed by a tether line. With the United States Parachute Association’s Accelerated Freefall program, two “jumpmasters” dive with the student—at altitudes usually 10,000 feet or more above ground level—and assist the student in remaining stable while performing a series of tasks designed to train the student to maintain stability in freefall and appropriately deploy the parachute. Finally, in the Tandem training program, a dual parachute harness capable of carrying two skydivers (the student in front of the instructor) is used to introduce students to the sport of skydiving under the direct control of the experienced, specially rated Tandem Instructor.

Other parachute sports

There are other forms of sport parachuting that do not utilize aircraft as a launching platform. One such sport is paragliding, in which a pilot seated in a harness connected to a parachute canopy launches from a high place and glides, using air currents. In parasailing, a parachute is linked by a long line to a boat or land vehicle, and the forward motion of the vehicle tows the parachute and its wearer skyward. Finally, in BASE (an acronym for building, antenna, span, earth) jumping, the parachutist leaps from a very high point, such as a building, bridge, or cliff, rather than an airplane. It should be noted, however, that—owing to the relatively low altitudes from which the jump takes place—BASE jumping has a much higher risk level than other sport uses of a parachute; because of this and the possibility of injuring bystanders below, BASE jumping is usually illegal.

Russians Hit by Ruble Crisis Skip St. Moritz to Stay Home

Sergey Kyuregyan, a 35-year-old manager of a Moscow energy company, decided to forgo a European ski vacation this winter and travel to the Black Sea instead.
“I wanted to spend my vacation in Russia,” he said, explaining that in the past he’d gone to Switzerland, Austria and Italy. “I decided that I would go skiing in Sochi.”
The number of Russians staying in Swiss hotels declined in 2014 as the ruble plummeted and President Vladimir Putin’s government urged vacations at home. That’s being felt in the Alpine town of St. Moritz, location of the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympic games. Here, expensive cars ply the streets lined with boutiques such as Prada SpA (1913) and Hermes International. (RMS) Famous for its sunshine, annual polo-on-ice tournament and well-heeled clientele, the town, which is more upmarket than Davos, has recently proved a popular destination for wealthy Russians.
At the 126-room Kulm Hotel, which offered a dinner for Russian Orthodox Christmas Eve on Jan. 6 featuring an opera singer for 600 francs ($590) per person, bookings from Russians this winter are down by 8 percent to 10 percent.
“There’s not a waiting list as there was in years past,” Kulm CEO Heinz Hunkeler said, explaining that during the ski season Russians constitute about 13 percent of the clientele. “The ruble has a certain effect, but of course many of our clients have their money outside Russia. The nationalism phenomenon of Putin saying ‘stay in Russia’ shouldn’t be underestimated.”

Photographer: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Expensive cars ply the streets lined with boutiques in St. Moritz.

Altered Environment

Energy manager Kyuregyan is one of those Russians, saying he chose not to travel abroad for “political reasons,” rather than for pecuniary considerations. “Skiing in Sochi wasn’t cheaper than in Europe but not more expensive either.”
Nearby, at the 5-star Carlton, which served as a home to the Greek royal family during World War I, “the current winter season has brought new challenges due to the altered political and economic environment” in Russia and surrounding countries, said Corinne Denzler, director of the Tschuggen Hotel Group that owns the hotel.
Since 2005, Russians have enjoyed an official 10-day holiday surrounding the Julian calendar’s Christmas on Jan. 7. Between 2005 and 2013, the number of Russian tourists coming to Switzerland doubled. They generated 133 million francs for the Swiss tourism sector in 2013, according to tourist office estimates.
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year, the number of Russians arriving to stay in Swiss hotels dropped by a tenth between May and October.

Canceled Trip

Some Russians have chosen not to travel abroad after the European Union imposed a raft of sanctions. A 40 percent drop in the ruble against the euro last year has also pushed up the cost of foreign holidays and a raft of Russian travel agencies has foundered. The ruble slid 2 percent to 66.5870 versus the dollar by 4:55 p.m. in Moscow, the fourth day of declines.
While Switzerland is a neutral country and hasn’t formally joined the EU’s sanctions, it has taken measures to hinder their circumvention. The Swiss National Bank also has a minimum exchange rate of 1.20 per euro for the franc, meaning Russians feel the loss of purchasing power when in Switzerland.
“I canceled a trip to Europe during the holidays because of personal reasons and the tough financial situation only confirmed that my decision was correct,” said Moscow museum manager Dmitry Panov, 27. “I had planned to do a road-trip through Prague, Vienna and Budapest via Belarus and Poland.”

Fewer Visitors

Even though Russians ranked only tenth among foreign visitors to Switzerland in 2013, they are among the more avid shoppers: They spent 230 francs per day, compared with an average among foreigners of 180 francs, according to data from the tourism board.
In St. Moritz, which in the course of the 20th century counted Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and the Shah of Iran among its famous guests, the local tourism board expects a decline in the number of Russian visitors this winter. Roberto Rivola, spokesman for the association, said it wasn’t possible to predict how big the decline would be.
Other countries have been similarly affected: Russians stayed away from the French Riviera this summer, while in Finland Russians crossing the border to shop are spending less.
It’s not all gloom and doom in St. Moritz. Atop the Corviglia ski area at 2,500 meters, La Marmite restaurant is enjoying good demand. On the menu: Beef carpaccio with truffles and smoked salmon with caviar for 388 francs, or melted Brie with caviar for 225 francs.
“Both in terms of atmosphere and business, the situation is good,” owner Reto Mathis said. “The Russians are here -- I can’t see any evidence of a decline.”

Last-Minute Bookings

Meanwhile at the Kempinski, General Manager Reto Stoeckenius said there’s been no year-on-year decline in Russian guests, thanks to a flurry of last-minute bookings.
Natalya Novikova, a 34-year-old company manager from Moscow who has come to St. Moritz for the past six or seven years, said the ruble’s collapse has kept some of her friends away this year and led others to settle for cheaper accommodation. Most in her circle came nonetheless, she said.
“We couldn’t imagine not coming -- whatever happens,” Novikova said, enjoying a coffee with her husband in the morning sun. “It’s one of our favorite places on earth.”

Bank Troubles and Oil Worries

JPMorgan had earnings.
It's a miss, $1.19 per share versus $1.31 estimates, with fixed-income revenue down in part because of the sale of the commodities unit, and in part because, you know, trading:

“The tough part about this group is that it kind of has to be Goldilocks volatility -- too little, and you can’t make anything on the trades, and too much, you lose money making a market,” Konrad said in a telephone interview before JPMorgan released its results. “It’s been frustrating because we’ve gone from one extreme to the other.”

Debt underwriting was strong, mortgage production was weak, and there's $990 million of new legal reserves. Full-year compensation at the investment bank was down 3.6 percent from last year, for an average of $204,365 per employee. Here's the release, the presentation, and the supplement; don't miss the "preferred stock dividend allocation change," which is just geeky fun.
Elsewhere in banks.
Bank of America apparently fired 150 clients last year in its prime brokerage group:

The second-largest U.S. bank made the decisions based on which relationships were profitable enough to keep amid new capital and liquidity rules, according to two people familiar with the bank’s strategy, who asked not to be named because details are private. The cuts included the majority of its quantitative hedge fund customers, or those that use computer programs to trade, one of the people said.

Is that about those funds using too much leverage, or about them being insufficiently susceptible to profitable sales pitches? It is sort of obvious in a generic way that if you write new regulations with the goal of making banks more conservative with their money, the result of those regulations will be that some clients will have less access to the credit and financial products they crave. And if you oppose those regulations, the trick is to find sympathetic clients who might plausibly lose that access under the new regulations, and trot them before the regulators and say "won't somebody please think of the home-buyers and municipal bond issuers and swaps end-users?" I doubt a lot of regulators are losing sleep over the quant funds cut adrift by Bank of America though.
Elsewhere in unprofitable clients, a Goldman Sachs vehicle called Oak Finance made a loan to Banco Espirito Santo in July, and BES got bailed out and restructured as a good-bank/bad-bank in August, and Goldman got whacked:

Goldman officials believed that the Oak Finance loan would be protected in the new structure, in part because a senior Bank of Portugal official said so in writing, Goldman spokeswoman Fiona Laffan said. 

This turned out to be a misunderstanding, the loan was written down, and "On Christmas Eve, a group of senior Goldman executives held a conference call to discuss the writedown and how it would affect employee bonuses," and they were not exactly filled with the Christmas spirit, though it sounds like the hits will come primarily to the bonuses of "up to 50 people" in the group that did the loan.
Meanwhile, Citigroup "has been quietly scaling back its consumer banking presence in some of the world's major cities," going from 120 to 100 of "the world's top 150 cities," and, sorry, Tokyo and Houston, but you no longer make the cut. And here's a story about how Deutsche Bank's executives are planning to "refresh their strategy by the end of June," to deal with the fact that Deutsche has the worst-performing stock among global investment banks. But there doesn't yet seem to be, um, a strategy for refreshing the strategy: "No decisions have been made" by Deutsche management (though "job cuts, winding down business lines at the investment bank and selling assets" are on the table), and here is an inspiring quote:

“It’s time for management to be asking themselves what they can be doing differently,” said Viktor Hund, who helps manage about 56 billion euros ($66 billion) including Deutsche Bank shares at LBBW Asset Management in Stuttgart, Germany. “Things can’t go on like they have up until now.”

Sounds like they need a strategy.
Today in oil.
"We're going to go below $40," says the head of research at Soc Gen in New York, so that's exciting. That makes Arctic drilling rather less attractive, with Statoil and others cutting back on exploration. "Among Wall Street strategists there are notable differences of opinion as to how falling oil prices will influence the overall market," with some analysts bullish, but Jeff Gundlach sees a "sinister" side to the oil decline that will negatively affect economic growth. On the other hand, "Refiners, tankage firms and traders that invested in oil storage capacity are benefiting as the slump in crude to below $45 a barrel deepened what’s called contango, a relatively rare situation where prices for oil delivery later this year are higher than current prices." But here is Izzy Kaminska, our great modern bard of commodities contango, with some skepticism:

In short, because the industry can bring new supply to market relatively quickly, we go from a spare capacity model, to a just-in-time model instead.
The key consequence of that fact: the market no longer needs so great a risk premium embedded into the spot price, because supply can be delivered to the market as and when needed, without too much concern of a system-chocking shortage ever happening.
This changes the capital structure underpinning the commodity market significantly. 

"Put another way," she adds, "storage economics becomes redundant because long-term contango-style storage has to compete directly with additional production." And here is Cardiff Garcia on oil, financial-market contagion, and Keystone. And while there's a lot of energy-sector high-yield debt, most of it is relatively long-dated, and Citi "wouldn't be surprised to see companies take advantage of deeply-discounted prices through liability management." And if it makes you feel any better, palm oil is rallying.
And bitcoin.
Is bitcoin in contango? Hahaha no what would that even mean? But bitcoin mining is becoming less profitable as prices crash, and you might be like "oh well less supply, that's good for prices," except that bitcoin mining is how the whole blockchain distributed trust etc. thing works. So you can't just shut down all the miners and have it still be a thing. And here's another "Can Bitcoin Clean Up Its Act?" story.
The ECB can probably buy bonds.
Good news! The European Central Bank has promised to buy government bonds using Outright Monetary Transactions, but certain Germans opposed that version of quantitative easing as too inflationary and not quite allowed by European Union treaties. And today there was a preliminary ruling on the question, from European Court of Justice advocate general Cruz Villalon. And the ruling was positive for the ECB's plan:

“The ECB must have a broad discretion when framing and implementing the EU’s monetary policy, and the courts must exercise a considerable degree of caution when reviewing the ECBs activity,” Mr. Villalon wrote.
The OMT program is “suitable” to lower interest rates and wouldn’t lead the ECB to take on risks that would “necessarily” leave it vulnerable to insolvency, he added.

Today in money laundering.
"Wild Parties, Secret Cash Drops, Offshore Accounts: Meet Brazil's Black-Market Central Banker," " reads this headline, but you have to pair it with the picture of Alberto Youssef at a parliamentary committee hearing for the full effect. I would party with him. He's a former whiskey smuggler and money launderer with nine arrests, who is now implicated in a kickback scandal at Petrobras, though he is not actually a central banker, as I was sort of hoping. He just, like, has a lot of money and is involved in a bunch of shady stuff. Elsewhere in money laundering, HSBC Holdings "has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to overhaul its anti-money-laundering system" and still can't quite get it right. Here's the SEC's Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee.
Are you on it? Joseph Stiglitz isn't, which created some controversy a while back, so I figured I'd point you to the actual list now that it's out. Is it all evil high-frequency traders? I don't know, how do you feel about Brad Katsuyama, chief executive of IEX and hero of "Flash Boys"? But, sure, it's pretty tilted toward equities-trading industry people, and people who are generally familiar with the current market structure. (There are a couple of professors, a couple of people from places like AARP and T. Rowe Price, and a lot of people from banks, exchanges, and trading firms. ) Which is how these committees work. You don't just staff them with wild-eyed anarchists who want to tear down the whole system and start over. You're thinking of Congress. Regulatory advisory bodies are about tweaking. And like I've said, my view of the Securities and Exchange Commission -- which after all picks its advisers -- is that it's mostly okay with current market structure, so it's not exactly in the mood to be berated by people who disagree.
Elsewhere in market structure, DRW is buying Chopper Trading. And elsewhere in the SEC, here are its 2015 examination priorities, "which focus on three areas: protecting retail investors, especially those saving for or in retirement; assessing market-wide risks; and using data analytics to identify signs of potential illegal activity." 
Human beats algorithm.
It's a theme recently, so I thought I'd point out that I had some success against the "veteran computer" in the New York Times's Rock-Paper-Scissors game, winning 8, tying 7, and losing only 4 of my first 20 ... throws? rounds? whatever you call it. In a larger sense, though, what sort of "success" is it to play rock-paper-scissors against a computer 20 times? Anyway I advise you to play rock-paper-scissors against a computer, what else are you doing with your life really.
Things happen.
What Can We Learn From The Impending S&P Settlement? Carlos Slim's New York Times options are nearing expiration, and are very in-the-money. "Another Picasso is up for sale," says a guy, metaphorically, about the Brooklyn Nets. (Related.) "Computer hackers hold a law firm's files hostage and demand a ransom," on "The Good Wife" but also for real in Canada. Ocwen might lose its California mortgage-servicing license. "Never pose for a 'most eligible bachelors in finance' thing" is right up there with "never record a corporate parody song" for career advice, but people keep doing it, with disastrous results. "Jamba Juice Already Added Kale. Now It’s Adding Two Activists." Instacart and the precariat in Slate, The Awl, Twitter. "BlackBerry is tweeting from an iPhone." Dog rides bus.

SPORT : KENDO

ADVANCED CONCEPTS:

Kendo is a lifelong pursuit of mastering fundamentals (kihon), techniques (waza), and key concepts.

Key Concepts

Ki Ken Tai no Ichi: Literally, spirit-sword-body as one. This seemingly simple statement takes many years of diligent effort to achieve.

Gan Soku Tan Riki: The four key elements of kendo:

 Gan (sight): the ability to see your opponents, not just their physical presence but also their character, feelings, and intentions.

 Soku (footwork): the movement of the body.

 Tan (courage): one's spirit and attitude toward one's self and fellow human beings.

 Riki (power): the ability to put into practice ki-ken-tai no ichi to produce powerful strikes and a powerful presence.

Kyo Ku Gi Waku: The four things you must conquer:

 Kyo (surprise): do not be startled or taken by surprise.

 Ku (fear): do not let awe of your opponent or fear of failure overcome you.

 Gi (doubt): do not hesitate or enter into half-hearted action.

 Waku (confusion): do not let your mind wander and become disordered.

Seme: Literally, to attack. Seme means to apply pressure to your opponent. There are three basic kinds of seme:

 Ki o korosu: break the opponent's spirit

 Waza o korosu: kill the opponent's technique, for example, by changing the distance.

 Ken o korosu: kill the sword, for example, by knocking the shinai to the side.

Datotsu no Kikai: Literally, chance to strike. The five most important chances are:

 Debana: as your opponent's attack is beginning.

 Waza ga owaru toki: when the opponent's attack is finished.

 Itsuka toki: when the opponent has settled. Observe patterns of breathing or movement.

 Uke tometa toki: after a block or parry.

 Mato toki: when the opponent is uncertain.

Mittsu no Sen. The three basic categories of counter-attack:

 Sen sen no sen: before the opponent attacks (e.g. debana waza).

 Sen zen no sen: when the opponent's attack has begun but can be avoided (e.g. nuki waza).

 Sen go no sen: when the opponent's attack has begun but can be countered with a parry (e.g. suriage waza, kaeshi waza, or uchi otoshi waza).

Maai

The distance between self and the opponent. The ability to control this distance, and to apply techniques appropriate to a particular distance, is a measure of the maturity of the kenshi. The basic kinds of maai are:

 To ma: far distance 

 Issoku itto no ma: the distance from which one can strike the opponent with one motion 

 Chika ma: close distance 

There are two broad categories of waza, shikake waza and oji waza.

Shikake Waza (Offensive Techniques)

 Ippon uchi (single hit technique), includes men, do, kote, tsuki

 Nidan waza, sandan waza (two and three-step techniques), includes: kote-men, kote-do, kote-men-do, etc.

 Harai waza (warding off technique), includes harai-men, harai-kote

 Debana waza (attack-at-the-start technique), includes debana men, debana kote

 Hiki waza (stepping back technique), includes hiki men, hiki kote, hiki do

 Katsugi waza (shouldering-the-sword technique)

 Maki waza (rolling-the-shinai technique)

 Katate waza (single-hand technique)

Oji Waza (Receiving Techniques)

 Suriage uchi (sliding upward technique), includes men-suriage men, kote-suriage kote, kote-suriage men

 Kaeshi waza (block-counter technique), includes men-kaeshi do, men-kaeshi men, kote-kaeshi kote

 Uchiotoshi waza (striking-down technique), includes do-uchiotoshi men

 Nuki waza (avoiding technique), includes kote-nuki men, men-nuki do

The mindset of Kendo.

“The Mindset of Kendo Instruction” and its explanation

The Significance of the Shinai: For the correct transmission and development of Kendo, efforts should be made to teach the correct way of handling the shinai in accordance with the principles of the sword.

Kendo is a way where the individual cultivates one’s mind (the self) by aiming for shin-ki-ryoku-itchi (unification of mind, spirit and technique) utilizing the shinai. The “shinai-sword” should be not only directed at one’s opponent but also at the self. Thus, the primary aim of instruction is to encourage the unification of mind, body and shinai through training in this discipline.

Reiho - Etiquette: When instructing, emphasis should be placed on etiquette to encourage respect for partners, and nurture people with a dignified and humane character.

Even in competitive matches, importance is placed on upholding etiquette in Kendo. The primary emphasis should thus be placed on instruction in the spirit and forms of reiho (etiquette) so that the practitioner can develop a modest attitude to life, and realize the ideal of koken-chiai (the desire to achieve mutual understanding and betterment of humanity through Kendo).

Lifelong Kendo: While providing instruction, students should be encouraged to apply the full measure of care to issues of safety and health, and to devote themselves to the development of their character throughout their lives.

　

Kendo is a “way of life” that successive generations can learn together. The prime objective of instructing Kendo is to encourage the practitioner to discover and define their way in life through training in the techniques of Kendo. Thus, the practitioner will be able to develop a rich outlook on life and be able to put the culture of Kendo into use, thereby benefitting from its value in their daily lives through increased social vigour.

Listen to foreigners, is that it has trouble in the Japanese public toilet?

Beyond the first 10 million people visit foreigners in 2013, the Japanese government is seeking to break through 20 million people towards the 2020, I wonder foreigners feels how about toilet of Japan.

When visiting Japan initially, there was a Western and Japanese style in Japan of public toilets, or you chose either? When asked to foreigners living in Japan, that 83.3% is answered "Western-style", it was found in the investigation of TOTO. "Japan is to clean a variety of things, receive a filthy impression Looking at the squat toilet" was also voice such as (US woman).

Visit to Japan initially, where I heard that you have trouble in Japan of public toilet "Japanese style did not know how to use the toilet," the person who mentioned (26.7%) was the most common. Such as a "Japanese-style" gold hidden unique to Japan is to the toilet ", also differs from the other countries of squatting toilet many," Japanese squat toilet do not know the direction, "" Japanese-style toilet sitting on toilet Minimize be "like there was a voice" (TOTO)

"I did not know the role of the various operation buttons" (25.7%) is ranked in second place. Hereinafter referred to as "hot water operation method of cleaning a toilet seat did not know" (18.5%), "toilet trouble narrow" (17.3%), followed by a "Japanese display was only no" (15.7%).

● public toilet in Japan cleanliness

Visit Initially, the person who chose the "Western-style" in the Japanese public toilet, where you heard the reason "country of toilet western style" (60.5%) and the answer was people was the highest. Hereinafter referred to as "not burdened in legs easy" (49.5%), "there is a hot water cleaning toilet seat" (32.1%), "Japanese-style toilet floor is dirty unsanitary" (22.6%), "Japanese-style toilet use hateful and (unusable) "(16.6%), there is a resistance to cross the" squat toilet "in (12.8%) result that.

Do public toilet you think clean compared to the country's public toilet in Japan? To this question, "I think it clean (including the very)" and the answer was of (93.6%) was more than 90%.

In a survey by the Internet, foreigners 600 people living in Japan (South Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia) is answered. Investigation period September-October 2014.

 外国人に聞く、日本の公共トイレで困ったことは？

訪日外国人が2013年に初めて1000万人を超え、日本政府は2020年にむけて2000万人突破を目指しているが、外国人は日本のトイレについてどのように感じているのだろうか。

　訪日当初、日本の公共トイレに洋式と和式があったとき、あなたはどちらを選びましたか？　日本在住の外国人に聞いたところ、83.3％が「洋式」と回答していることが、TOTOの調査で分かった。「日本はいろいろなモノがきれいなのに、和式トイレをみると不潔な印象を受ける」（米国女性）といった声もあった。

　訪日当初、日本の公共トイレで困ったことを聞いたところ「和式トイレの使い方が分からなかった」（26.7％）を挙げる人が最も多かった。「和式トイレには日本独特の『金かくし』があるなど、諸外国のしゃがみ式トイレと異なる点も多く、『日本の和式トイレは向きが分からない』『和式トイレは便器に座ってしまうかも』といった声があった」（TOTO）

　2位には「さまざまな操作ボタンの役割が分からなかった」（25.7％）がランクイン。以下「温水洗浄便座の操作方法が分からなかった」（18.5％）、「トイレが狭くて困った」（17.3％）、「日本語表示しかなかった」（15.7％）と続いた。

●日本の公共トイレは清潔

　訪日当初、日本の公共トイレで「洋式」を選んだ人に、その理由を聞いたところ「自国のトイレが洋式」（60.5％）と答えた人が最も多かった。以下「足腰に負担がかからず楽」（49.5％）、「温水洗浄便座がある」（32.1％）、「和式トイレは床が汚く不衛生」（22.6％）、「和式トイレは使いにくい（使えない）」（16.6％）、「和式トイレをまたぐのに抵抗がある」（12.8％）という結果に。

　日本の公共トイレは自国の公共トイレと比べて清潔だと思いますか？　この質問に対して、「清潔だと思う（とてもを含む）」（93.6％）と答えたのは9割を超えた。

　インターネットによる調査で、日本在住の外国人600人（韓国、台湾、中国、香港、米国、フランス、英国、タイ、マレーシア、インドネシア）が回答した。調査時期は2014年9～10月。

Expect prime minister, in cooperation of constitutional amendments "natural thing" Restoration

Shinzo Abe Prime Minister 14 days, appeared on the program of Kansai, showed a strong willingness to constitutional amendment. "It is natural that going to change the Constitution. It is going to write a constitution in the hands of our own, it leads to carve a new era," he said.
At the same time, "it will be now discussed, if Ere is to give them in favor to the party or other party of the Meiji Restoration, but thankfully" respect narrowing of future revisions item shows the expected to the other party of cooperation with.
For the current Constitution was pointed out that it "consisting in nearly 70 years been established. There is a history that could be under occupation, Japanese to say difficult and made with their own hands."

安倍晋三 首相は１４日、関西テレビの番組に出演し、憲法改正に強い意欲を示した。「憲法を変えていくのは自然なことだ。私たち自身の手で憲法を書いていくのが、新しい時代を切り開くことにつながる」と述べた。
同時に、今後の改正項目の絞り込みに関し「これから議論するが、維新の党やほかの党にも賛成してもられえれば、ありがたい」と他党の協力に期待を示した。
現行憲法について「成立して７０年近くになる。占領下でできた経緯があり、日本人が自らの手でつくったとは言い難い」と指摘した。

Coolest underground homes

The Cave House

This one has really stood tough against the sands of time. This cave house, which has been carved out of a mountain has switched many roles over the time. Originally used as a mine for decades, it was later used as a concert venue. Currently, it is geared with all the household equipments and is serving as a unique abode.
Swiss Mountain Underground House

In the Swiss village of Vals, this underground house stands apart from the rest. It is a brainchild of architects from SeARCH, Netherlands and Christian Muller. The beautifully designed house plays intelligently by completely eliminating the need of cooling in summers and heating in winters.
Sedum House

Situated in steep sand hill inland in North Norfloak Coast, this house exudes futuristic design. The central point around which the whole house is designed is ’Sun’. The living rooms at the first floor are covered with wooden hood which keeps the heat off the glass windows in summers. Interestingly, the make is such that the house is not devoid of any sunlight in winters. The base of the house is built with flints. The four bedrooms are buried in the tunnel and the natural cover of the ground provides insulation to it.
Hidden Swiss estate by Vetsch Architektur

Who wouldn’t mistake this gorgeous house for a mysterious dwelling out straight from a fairytale wonderland? Designer Vetsch Architektur has designed this Swiss house in a way that provides an insulating blanket to it guarding it against natural abrasion, rain, wind and low tempratures.
Cumbria Underground House

Local architect John Bodger designed this house for Phil and Helen Reddy. It was designed in such a way that the two stories are burrowed backwards in to a rock. Built on an old quarry site, this house impersonates the eco friendly approach of its owners.
Malator Underground Eco House

Malator is one modern underground house in Druidstone, which is rightly termed as the ‘blueprint for the future of Welsh Housing’. It has also been given the local nickname of ‘Teletubby house’ owing to the the turf roof, steel chimney and its peephole doorway.
Abandoned Missile Base

The next entry dares to bring the dicey adventures alive. Bruce Townsley bought this missile base property from Ed Peden, who is a missile base real estate mogul. The sheer intricacy and complexity involved in the project pushed his urge to undertake it. The whole house is connected by the staircases which twirl between the first and the second levels.
Greek Isles Underground House

Designed by Deca Architecture, this underground home has been especially envisioned to stand the windy weather of Aegean Sea. Its unique carving allows only the second story to remain visible above the ground. The house fully justifies the green certificate as it has been made from natural materials.
Modern Underground house by KWK Promes

This underground house from KWK Promes has been made using modernistic elements in mind. The green roof of the house is accessible only to the residents via a set of stairs running from inside. Blending perfectly with its green surroundings, the house provides a perfect interaction between outdoors and indoors for its residents.
Underground Stone Desert Home

This house barely rises above the dessert level that surrounds it. Half hidden in the earth, it efficiently responds to the needs of controlled lighting, heating and cooling-cross winds. It also has two slopes on the adjacent hillsides. Owing to an emerging appearance, the house looks no less than a fantastical and intriguing pre-historic ruin that is on the verge of being discovered.

If the Internet becomes a public utility, you’ll pay more. Here’s why.

If the Internet becomes a public utility, you’ll pay more. Here’s why.

The Federal Communications Commission is in the middle of a high-stakes decision that could raise taxes for close to 90 percent of Americans. The commission is considering whether to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service and, in doing so, Washington would trigger new taxes and fees at the state and local level.
The agency would like to make Internet service a public utility, placing broadband under Title II regulation of the Communications Act of 1934. This move would make broadband subject to New Deal-era regulation, and have significant consequences for U.S. taxpayers.
Under this decision to reclassify broadband, Americans would face a host of new state and local taxes and fees that apply to public utilities. These new levies, according to the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), would total $15 billion annually. On average, consumers would pay an additional $67 for landline broadband, and $72 for mobile broadband each year, according to PPI’s calculations, with charges varying from state to state.

Proponents of broadband reclassification, including the left-of-center organization Free Press, claim that it would not result in higher taxes or fees. The recently extended Internet Tax Freedom Act, they assert, prohibits state and local taxation of Internet service. This is incorrect, however. The act does not apply to telecom-related fees.
Free Press and other broadband reclassification proponents also say the new taxes and fees can be prevented if the FCC designates broadband as an interstate service. A Progressive Policy Institute report explains why this also is incorrect:
“When the Commission previously considered the jurisdiction of Internet traffic, it determined that such traffic was ‘largely interstate,’ but ‘jurisdictionally mixed.’ States routinely tax jurisdictionally mixed services that are classified as ‘interstate’ for purposes of regulation. For example, wireless services may not be regulated by state public utility commissions, but they are subject to a host of state and local taxes and fees. In several states, interstate wireless revenues are subject to taxation.”
Late last year, President Barack Obama waded into this contentious debate. He called for the Internet to be treated like a public utility. Critics of Obama’s position point out this would reduce investment in infrastructure and lead to inferior service for consumers. Reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service would also stifle innovation and restrict the openness of the Internet.

The telecommunications industry has invested more than $1.2 trillion on broadband infrastructure since 1996. As a result, roughly 87 percent of Americans have access to broadband. It would be foolish for government to discourage the significant investment required to maintain, expand and improve this infrastructure by subjecting broadband to circa 1930s regulation. Subjecting Internet service providers to such onerous rules would depress innovation and penalize Web users.
Not only would higher taxes and fees leave individuals, families, and employers with less disposable income, a wealth of research indicates it would be bad for the economy.
John Hood, former president of the John Locke Foundation, found that keeping state and local tax and regulatory burdens as low as possible fosters economic growth, when he analyzed 681 peer-reviewed academic journal articles going back to 1990.
“Most studies find,” Hood stated, “that lower levels of taxes and spending, less-intrusive regulation…correlate with stronger economic performance.”
Tax Foundation economist William McBride reviewed academic literature going back three decades and found, “While there are a variety of methods and data sources, the results consistently point to significant negative effects of taxes on economic growth even after controlling for various other factors such as government spending, business cycle conditions and monetary policy.”
In McBride’s survey of 26 studies, dating to 1983, he found “all but three of those studies, and every study in the last 15 years, find a negative effect of taxes on growth.”
The Federal Communications Commission is expected to make its decision early this year. After the more than 20 tax increases signed into law during Obama’s six years in office, the last thing American taxpayers need is a gusher of new taxes and fees triggered by bureaucrats in Washington.